How Did I Become an F1 Driver?-Chapter 466 - 210: Dramatic Turns

Although he didn’t catch the slipstream from other teams like Leclerc in the final sector, Gasly still finished the line in fourth place.

Qin Miao’s original sixth position dropped one place due to Gasly’s rise, falling to seventh.

Tian also moved up a place, surpassing Alonso from tenth to ninth.

After the two Red Bull drivers completed their flying laps, it was time for other teams to send their drivers out for the last flying lap.

At Mercedes, Qin Miao fitted his last set of new soft tires, while Hamilton was to go out before Qin Miao.

Hamilton didn’t play any tricks; he promised to exchange slipstreams during the Q3 session before the qualifying started, and he didn’t break his word.

Initially, the domestic fans were somewhat unhappy seeing Qin Miao give Hamilton a slipstream, as it seemed like Hamilton was bullying Qin Miao.

If Qin Miao had a good time on his first flying lap, the fans wouldn’t say much, because if it didn’t affect the timing, it would be a gesture of goodwill on Qin Miao’s part, and helping out wouldn’t be inappropriate.

But now, Qin Miao seemed to be dropping to eighth, so how could they not be anxious?

Fortunately, as the race progressed, they found that Hamilton was actually giving Qin Miao a slipstream, so the fans relaxed quite a bit.

And they eagerly anticipated Qin Miao’s final result.

With 24 seconds left in the race, Hamilton and Qin Miao crossed the finish line one after the other, starting their last flying lap of this race.

Sometimes, surprises come unexpectedly.

Qin Miao had just passed T4 in his last flying lap when a yellow flag suddenly appeared in the first sector.

When the camera switched over, it showed a Red Bull crashing head-on into the barriers at T3.

With this scene, the yellow flag on the track instantly turned into a red flag.

All the commentators covering the race gasped in unison.

"Oh no! Tsunoda! It’s a red flag!"

At the same time, Sainz, who was behind Tsunoda, could only helplessly slide into the escape road, as Tsunoda’s car blocked his exit angle after crashing into the barrier.

Fortunately, Sainz’s car wasn’t damaged and smoothly drove out of the escape area. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

A dramatic scene unfolded, with just over 20 seconds left in the race, not enough time for other drivers to finish the last flying lap of Q3.

This meant that the Azerbaijan Grand Prix’s Q3 session, like the last Monaco Grand Prix, ended directly after a single flying lap.

And once again, Leclerc, like in the Monaco qualifying session, secured a pole position by default.

After their initial surprise, the commentators saw Qin Miao’s ranking and began to look troubled.

Because Qin Miao’s position meant he would start from the back, like in Monaco.

While Qin Miao’s performance in Monaco was spectacular, with his overtaking show becoming a unique moment in F1 history, his starting position in this race wasn’t as bad as in Monaco, and overtaking wasn’t as difficult.

But as fans of Qin Miao, both domestic commentators and audiences sincerely hoped he could start at the front.

Whether Qin Miao could gradually move up the ranks during the race, like in the last race, was another matter. At least, with Qin Miao starting from the front row, they would feel much more at ease watching the race.

But unfortunately, Qin Miao’s second flying lap in Q3 wasn’t completed again, only counting the base score.

Soon, the director replayed the reason for Tsunoda’s accident.

Coincidentally, Tsunoda’s accident occurred precisely where Ricciardo had his incident.

Both drivers even locked up their tires at the same spot, with both locking up the front left wheel.

And the barrier at that spot still bore the marks from Ricciardo’s previous crash.